


Semlas and Other Sweet Things

by azulaahai



Category: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo
Genre: Blind Date, Double Date, F/M, Fluff, M/M, Modern AU, what even is this lmao
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-28
Updated: 2019-08-28
Packaged: 2020-09-28 18:42:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 692
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20430650
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azulaahai/pseuds/azulaahai
Summary: Like most stupid situations Inej wound up in, it had all been Jesper’s idea from the beginning.





	Semlas and Other Sweet Things

Like most stupid situations Inej wound up in, it had all been Jesper’s idea from the beginning.

He had been looking for a laid-back way to ask out Wylan Van Eck for weeks now. Inej couldn’t imagine he would have any difficulties, not with the way he and Wylan were looking at each other, but Jesper had taken his sweet time. It was unlike him - Jesper had had more than his fair share of light-hearted flirts, but he seemed determined not to make Wylan one of them. It had been both scary and unbelievably exciting for Inej to realise just how deeply Jesper cared this time. 

So when he came to her work - a small coffee shop, ruled with an iron fist by Heleen Van Houden, the most intimidating woman Inej had ever met and subsequently the boss from hell - with a big grin on his face, Inej could guess the cause.

“I’ve got it!” Jesper declared, without so much as a ‘hello’. Inej readied herself.

“Is it Van Eck? Are you finally asking him out?” 

“Damn right I am. I’ve got the  _ perfect _ plan.” He paused for dramatic effect. “It involves you.”

“Of course it does.” 

“A double date.”

“A double date?”

“A double date. Simple, yet brilliant.”

Inej’s initial response was relief that the plan did not include horse-riding, hot air balloons or any other romantic-and-potentially-lethal elements. It was a nice idea, really - sweet and definitely do-able. It did, however, have one fatal flaw.

“Hm. Jesper.”

“Yes?” he said carelessly, walking around the counter like he owned the place and helping himself to a free cup of coffee. Inej thanked the saints Heleen was not present.

“I hate to put a damper on your spirits, but a double date normally requires  _ four  _ people. I doubt Wylan will want me to babysit the two of you while you make out.” Inej would not want that, either.

“You’ll have to bring someone, of course”, Jesper replied with a shrug, taking a sip of his coffee. “Perhaps”, he added in a conspiratory tone, leaning in closer, “you could take  _ Helvar _ ?”

As if he had heard their conversation, Matthias Helvar, Inej’s coffee shop coworker, chose that exact moment to come out of the kitchen.

Matthias Helvar was not the sort of guy you would guess worked in a café. His stern face, broody temper and muscular build stood in sharp contrast to the anonymous, halfheartedly cozy air of the coffee shop. But he had hidden talents - Matthias made the best damned semlas Inej had ever tasted, and he handled Heleen’s frequent fits of rage seemingly without any effort.

Inej did not have time for romance - not when there was work to be done and dreams to be fulfilled - but on the rare occasion that Matthias smiled at her, really  _ smiled _ his open, wolfish grin - Inej had only seen it a handful of times, but - when he smiled… 

Inej was almost ready to  _ make _ some time for romance.

And now Jesper wanted Matthias to play a part in his stupid double date scheme.

“No way”, she warned Jesper in a low voice, as Matthias, having greeted them both with a silent nod, began clearing a table at the other end of the room. “That’s not happening.”

“He’s handsome.” Jesper’s grin was beastly.

“I’ll kill you and make it look like an accident.”

“Helvar!” Jesper called out across the room. Inej began writing his eulogy in her head.

“Yes?” Matthias looked up.

“I’m taking my  _ boyfriend _ ”, Jesper began - Inej snorted - “to a movie tonight, and Inej has no one to go with.” Oh, she was going to  _ slaughter _ him. “Would you care to join us?”

Matthias looked from Jesper to Inej, who was looking anywhere but at him, back to Jesper again.

“Yes”, he just said, his face as unreadable as ever when Inej eventually glanced his way. “Yes, I would.”

And then Inej’s eyes met his, and he shot her one of those rare, playful smiles that made his face light up and the world feel like a much more pleasant place.

Hm.

Perhaps she would let Jesper live to see another day after all.


End file.
